A.N. Please accept my deepest apologies for delaying the continuation of
my little story. I know how impatient I get when stories I am reading take
forever to post - - I am flattered kind readers have been eager to know
what happens in my JAG universe. Your encouragement and direct emails got
me to carve out some time from a very, very busy "real life" to write some
more. Thank you for the kind words!
Obviously, much has happened since I started this.so we are firmly in an AU situation..the time frame is Mac's TAD assignment to the Seahawk, taking Lt. Singer's place..anything that has happened (on TV) since then has not happened..so try to forget that while you read my tale of danger and shippiness!
I am not an authority on the structure of aircraft carriers. All technical errors are mine; please forgive them for the sake of the storyline.
Remember, character's internal thoughts are in // //.
**********
We left Harm in Norfolk, VA, awaiting the SEAHAWK's arrival; he had befriended a little girl, Henry, who was waiting to see her father, also arriving on the SEAHAWK..
. . . "It would be a pleasure," he told her sincerely. "Come on, Henry," he ordered as he reached down to swoop her up and atop his shoulders. "How's the view?"
"It's awesome!" she marveled. "I can see practic'ly everything. It must be great being this tall all the time!"
She nearly toppled him over onto his face as she excitedly pointed towards the dock, "Look the SEAHAWK's almost here!"
Her voice carried high and clear over the buzz in the crowd and caught everyone's attention, faces turning towards the majestic carrier as it moved the final few hundred yards into port.
And some of the waiting eyes saw the burning streak as it crossed the sky.
And all the waiting eyes saw the fireball erupt in the towering bridge of the USS SEAHAWK.
AND NOW, CONTINUING "FIRE IN THE SOUL"
. . .For horrible moment, there was a ghastly, sick silence as those awaiting their husbands, sons, wives, and daughters took in the exploding flames that erupted in the command tower of the SEAHAWK. Then came the screaming and the crying as the meaning of what they were seeing penetrated the crowd's hearts and minds.
"Harm," cried out a small voice, "Harm, what happened? Why is the ship on fire? Where is my daddy? He's okay, isn't he? Harm?"
The JAG lawyer was as shocked as every other person around him, but the pleading voice of the little girl on his shoulders broke through the stunned disbelief that had frozen him into stillness.
He instantly swung the Henry off his shoulders and into his arms in a hug. He set her on the ground before him and looked intently into her panicked eyes.
"Henry, I don't know exactly what happened. Something's gone wrong on the SEAHAWK. I am going to go and try to help. If I see your Daddy, I will send him to you as quickly as I can, okay?"
A quavering voice asked, "You're going to leave us alone?"
She turned to her mother who still stood frozen, watching the flames and smoke billow around now-twisted metal.
"Mommy, tell Harm he should stay with us."
Harm took Henry's hand and placed it in her mother's hand. The contact broke Maureen Gallagher's gaze on the ship and she turned to hug her daughter in a tight embrace.
"Henry," Harm said to her, still at her eye level, "We both have to help people. I am going to help the people on the SEAHAWK and you have to stay here and help your mom and your little brother. Can you do that?"
The five-year-old turned in her mother's arms to face her new friend. "Yes, I can, but do you promise to tell my daddy where we are? He has to come see us right away. He can't stay on the SEAHAWK or he might get hurt."
Harm couldn't tell the little girl that her daddy might already be hurt, that he might even be.//Oh, G-d, please let her father be all right. G-d, please let Mac be all right.// Harm didn't pray much, but it was all he could do at the moment and he meant every word he prayed.
Maureen Gallagher saw the lawyer's expression change and knew he was searching for an answer to give her daughter without lying to her
"Henry, I really need you here with me. All this noise is going to make Chris cranky. Harm will go and help everyone he can on the ship." Then she turned to Harm.
"Go on, Commander. They will need all the help they can get for rescue operations. We'll be okay."
"Ma'am, I-" He couldn't finish his sentence. How could he promise her anything?
"It's all right, Commander. Every person you can help has loved ones waiting here. We'll pray for all of them." She tried to reassure him, "We will do our part here, you go and do yours out there."
Harm couldn't leave her with nothing, "Mrs. Gallagher, I *will* look for your husband. And if I can-"
She cut him off before he made a promise he couldn't keep. "Thank you, Commander. G-d bless you."
The tall lawyer dropped a kiss on Henry's red head, then took off at a run for the unloading zone of the dock area, where it was already clear that fire-fighting and rescue efforts were getting underway. And as he ran, he continued to pray..
USS SEAHAWK Port of Norfolk On deck . . .
The carrier was in chaos. The massive explosion, the fire, the smoke, the falling debris; it had caught everyone unprepared. But within moments, military training took over as every man and woman began to take practical action. They refused to acknowledge the bizarre reality of being attacked at they were pulling into their *home port* and instead, let training take over and they followed the procedures for an attack at sea.
Everyone cooperated to get all personnel to the bow of the carrier, away from the flaming bridge tower. Remarkably, because most of the crew had gathered on deck for the homecoming, gathering and accounting for the majority of personnel was easier than expected. Those who had been in the tower or in the office space beneath it were where the casualties would be.
Petty Officer Coates realized this in an instant as she helped to move coughing, stumbling shipmates forward. Why had Colonel MacKenzie chosen *that* moment to run back to the JAG office? She could be trapped, or injured, or.or.Jen refused to think it. She would move as fast as she could here, so she could then join in with the rescue parties that were forming to look for survivors in and beneath the tower. She would not give up on the Colonel..
USS SEAHAWK Port of Norfolk Somewhere below deck . . .
Had anyone been there to see, a lone figure in a khaki Marine uniform lay unmoving beneath the blown hatch door that effectively pinned her to the floor.
TBC
Obviously, much has happened since I started this.so we are firmly in an AU situation..the time frame is Mac's TAD assignment to the Seahawk, taking Lt. Singer's place..anything that has happened (on TV) since then has not happened..so try to forget that while you read my tale of danger and shippiness!
I am not an authority on the structure of aircraft carriers. All technical errors are mine; please forgive them for the sake of the storyline.
Remember, character's internal thoughts are in // //.
**********
We left Harm in Norfolk, VA, awaiting the SEAHAWK's arrival; he had befriended a little girl, Henry, who was waiting to see her father, also arriving on the SEAHAWK..
. . . "It would be a pleasure," he told her sincerely. "Come on, Henry," he ordered as he reached down to swoop her up and atop his shoulders. "How's the view?"
"It's awesome!" she marveled. "I can see practic'ly everything. It must be great being this tall all the time!"
She nearly toppled him over onto his face as she excitedly pointed towards the dock, "Look the SEAHAWK's almost here!"
Her voice carried high and clear over the buzz in the crowd and caught everyone's attention, faces turning towards the majestic carrier as it moved the final few hundred yards into port.
And some of the waiting eyes saw the burning streak as it crossed the sky.
And all the waiting eyes saw the fireball erupt in the towering bridge of the USS SEAHAWK.
AND NOW, CONTINUING "FIRE IN THE SOUL"
. . .For horrible moment, there was a ghastly, sick silence as those awaiting their husbands, sons, wives, and daughters took in the exploding flames that erupted in the command tower of the SEAHAWK. Then came the screaming and the crying as the meaning of what they were seeing penetrated the crowd's hearts and minds.
"Harm," cried out a small voice, "Harm, what happened? Why is the ship on fire? Where is my daddy? He's okay, isn't he? Harm?"
The JAG lawyer was as shocked as every other person around him, but the pleading voice of the little girl on his shoulders broke through the stunned disbelief that had frozen him into stillness.
He instantly swung the Henry off his shoulders and into his arms in a hug. He set her on the ground before him and looked intently into her panicked eyes.
"Henry, I don't know exactly what happened. Something's gone wrong on the SEAHAWK. I am going to go and try to help. If I see your Daddy, I will send him to you as quickly as I can, okay?"
A quavering voice asked, "You're going to leave us alone?"
She turned to her mother who still stood frozen, watching the flames and smoke billow around now-twisted metal.
"Mommy, tell Harm he should stay with us."
Harm took Henry's hand and placed it in her mother's hand. The contact broke Maureen Gallagher's gaze on the ship and she turned to hug her daughter in a tight embrace.
"Henry," Harm said to her, still at her eye level, "We both have to help people. I am going to help the people on the SEAHAWK and you have to stay here and help your mom and your little brother. Can you do that?"
The five-year-old turned in her mother's arms to face her new friend. "Yes, I can, but do you promise to tell my daddy where we are? He has to come see us right away. He can't stay on the SEAHAWK or he might get hurt."
Harm couldn't tell the little girl that her daddy might already be hurt, that he might even be.//Oh, G-d, please let her father be all right. G-d, please let Mac be all right.// Harm didn't pray much, but it was all he could do at the moment and he meant every word he prayed.
Maureen Gallagher saw the lawyer's expression change and knew he was searching for an answer to give her daughter without lying to her
"Henry, I really need you here with me. All this noise is going to make Chris cranky. Harm will go and help everyone he can on the ship." Then she turned to Harm.
"Go on, Commander. They will need all the help they can get for rescue operations. We'll be okay."
"Ma'am, I-" He couldn't finish his sentence. How could he promise her anything?
"It's all right, Commander. Every person you can help has loved ones waiting here. We'll pray for all of them." She tried to reassure him, "We will do our part here, you go and do yours out there."
Harm couldn't leave her with nothing, "Mrs. Gallagher, I *will* look for your husband. And if I can-"
She cut him off before he made a promise he couldn't keep. "Thank you, Commander. G-d bless you."
The tall lawyer dropped a kiss on Henry's red head, then took off at a run for the unloading zone of the dock area, where it was already clear that fire-fighting and rescue efforts were getting underway. And as he ran, he continued to pray..
USS SEAHAWK Port of Norfolk On deck . . .
The carrier was in chaos. The massive explosion, the fire, the smoke, the falling debris; it had caught everyone unprepared. But within moments, military training took over as every man and woman began to take practical action. They refused to acknowledge the bizarre reality of being attacked at they were pulling into their *home port* and instead, let training take over and they followed the procedures for an attack at sea.
Everyone cooperated to get all personnel to the bow of the carrier, away from the flaming bridge tower. Remarkably, because most of the crew had gathered on deck for the homecoming, gathering and accounting for the majority of personnel was easier than expected. Those who had been in the tower or in the office space beneath it were where the casualties would be.
Petty Officer Coates realized this in an instant as she helped to move coughing, stumbling shipmates forward. Why had Colonel MacKenzie chosen *that* moment to run back to the JAG office? She could be trapped, or injured, or.or.Jen refused to think it. She would move as fast as she could here, so she could then join in with the rescue parties that were forming to look for survivors in and beneath the tower. She would not give up on the Colonel..
USS SEAHAWK Port of Norfolk Somewhere below deck . . .
Had anyone been there to see, a lone figure in a khaki Marine uniform lay unmoving beneath the blown hatch door that effectively pinned her to the floor.
TBC